Centro de astrobiología asociado al NASA Astrobiology Institute

Formation and Evolution of Galaxies Group

The group is specialized in the Astrophysics area of "Formation and Evolution of Galaxies".
The main focus is the study of different galaxy types observed across the history of the Universe. This research is based on data obtained with ground based and spatial telescopes, optimized in X rays, optical, infrarred and millimetric. The group also have an important implication in technological projects of astronomical instrumentation, both spatial and ground based.

The team works on two main research aspects:

1) Scientific research

The research of the team contributes with a global vision about the processes of galaxy formation and evolution across the history of the Universe, from the most ancient epochs to recent times. The main goal is to investigate all the key mechanisms that determine the formation and the evolution of galaxies: galactic mergers and interactions, superwinds (feedback), nuclear activity and star formation.

All this is bases on the characterization of the observable ingredients in different galaxy types and the interaction between them: stars, the interstellar medium (ionized, neutral and molecular phases) and the supermassive black hole.

These studies are based on the exploitation of astronomical leading instrumentation, that covers a large fraction of the electromagnetic spectrum: ground based and spatial telescopes, optmized in the optical (Gran Telescopio Canarias, Very Large Telescope, Hubble Space Telescope), X ray satellites (XMM-Newton, Suzaky) and radio telescopes (IRAM, ATCA).

2) Technological activity

The group participates in several international projects related to the development of astronomical instrumentation within the scope of the European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory.

They participate in the scientific teams and calibration teams of the MIRI and NiRSpec instruments for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST); the also take part in the team responsible for the development of HARMONI, a first light instrument of the European Extremely Large Telescope (EELT), and in the science teams for the X-ray missions X LOFT, which is a candidate for an ESA M class mission, and Athena+, ESA L mission candidate.